The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately holding on to the certified true copies (CTC) of the voters register as well as the sample of the ballot paper for use during the June 21 election in Ekiti State, which is just few days ahead, despite the series of letters written by the party to request for them.
In a release by the party’s interim chairman in the state, Chief Jide Awe, APC said INEC was playing pranks with such materials sensitive to the election in a manner it did with the Anambra election. Such action by the electoral body is a worrisome impunity, as it contravenes the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010, which makes it obligatory for INEC to provide the certified true copies of the voters’ register to a party upon request without fail.
Awe recalls that the failure of the electoral body to provide the CTC on time before the election date gave it the latitude to manipulate the register, delete some names and make some names to appear twice. Already, the electronic copy of the register given to parties have again revealed such anomalies, with some names appearing twice and some names conspicuously missing out.
Section 15 of the Electoral Act sates that the “Commission shall cause a voters’ register for each State to be printed and any person or political party may obtain from the Commission, on payment of such charges, a certified copy of any voters’ register for the State or for a Local Government or Area Council or registration area within it.”
But according to Chief Awe, INEC’s body language indicates that the electoral body is playing the ostrich, ignoring what is constitutionally obvious.
“The disposition of the Commission not to grant our request for the certification of the said document is to say the least a breach of Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended. The implication of this for the unsuspecting electorate of Ekiti State could best be imagined against the ugly electoral malpractices perpetrated in Edo and Anambra States. We do not want this to happen in Ekiti State.”
In its response to one of the letters, which was dated 5th June 2014, INEC acknowledged receipt of the letter written by APC dated 27th May 2014 on the request for certified true copy of the Voters’ Register and promised to avail the party of the request “when the quantity must have been ascertained and the costing effected.” The commission also said that the sample of the ballot paper to be used for the election was not readily available “at this level because it is being handled by the National Headquarters of the Commission.”
However, INEC made a volte farce four days later, responding to another request from the party that it might not be able to release the CTC as requested until after the election.
INEC’s letter titled “Re: Certification of Voters’ Registration (CTC),” dated 9th June, 2014 reads in part: “Consequent upon our earlier discussions, clarification was sought from our national headquarters on the stated subject matter and it was made clear that issue of Certified True Copy (CTC) is a post election matter as contained in Section 77(1) of Electoral Act 2010 as amended.”
Section 77(1), which actually deals with post-election matters states that “The Resident Electoral Commissioner, in a state where an election is conducted, shall, within 7 days after an application is made to him by any of the parties to an election petition, cause such documents or the ce11ified true copy thereof, to be issued to the said party.”
APC sees INEC’s reference to post-election stipulation as a mischievous misrepresentation and an act unbecoming of an unbiased umpire. INEC should at this point refer to what the electoral act says concerning pre-election matters and not post-election matters.
Failure on the part of INEC to act according to the dictates of the law, will be viewed as a deliberate attempt to manipulate the election with the anticipation of a post-election crisis. This is condemnable by all well-meaning Nigerians. INEC cannot re-write or interpret the Electoral Act at this point to suit its selfish intentions; rather, it should play by the rules.
We therefore call on Prof Atahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman, to intervene on the matter and allow such material sensitive to every electorate be released on time for the election which comes on on Saturday, June 21. A stitch it time saves nine.
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